Something new unfolding
Hello lovely ones!
How are you all now that the holiday season is upon us? The older (wiser?) I get, the more i try to excuse myself from the excessive busyness and prioritize creating a warm, festive, cozy hibernation space, and staying there as much as possible - lol!
This year, I think I may actually come close to achieving this elusive restfulness, not because of my will power to say no, but because I created a mobile hibernation space! Genius! Back in June my hubby and I found ourselves a little old yellow school bus and have been steadily converting it into a simple living space that I love so much, it gives me surges of delight whenever I see it. Now, when we travel to see family and friends, I bring my comfort with me… it’s truly a game changer for my introverted self. A place to retreat to for some quiet alone time, to read a book, to take a nap? yes indeed. bliss.
There is another beloved project I have been working on this year… one that might interest you more than my bus :D i have been teaching myself how to create, film and edit tutorials! To be honest, it has been quite a learning curve, with many attempts on the cutting room floor, but I feel like I’m gathering up enough confidence to finally set a launch date.
This January, hopefully early January, I will be opening a Patreon felting community, where each month I will share a new felting tutorial! I am so excited! My vision is to create a welcoming online community of fibre and felting enthusiasts where we can connect and learn together.
The tutorials will be focussed on growing and accumulating felting skills by alternating every month between a sample and small works project. The sample project will be a series of 6x6”(ish) squares, each employing a new felting technique or surface design element - something to build your knowledge of felting in a small manageable form while also creating a beautiful gallery of samples to display on your wall or bind into a growing reference book. On each odd month, I will be offering a tutorial of small works, sculptures and objects ranging from felted candles, bumblebees, and flowers to making your own felting tools and forms. While I will not specifically be instructing how to make hats (although I do have plans to make miniature ones!), you will be learning all of the techniques I employ in creating hats. In the future, when I am more experienced in recording and once i am able to procure better recording equipment, I do plan on offering hat making courses as well :D
In addition to offering tutorials, my hope is to create a friendly and encouraging environment where we can all connect, ask questions, give support, find resources and have fun! I will be having give-aways, doing Q&A’s, behind-the-scenes of hats I am creating, studio tours, first access to hat sales/custom spaces and, best of all, taking suggestions for what I will teach next. I hope to evolve and learn with you, to celebrate our progress and our mistakes and to connect and grow as a community of fibre lovers.
It is also super important to me to make this learning platform accessible and affordable, while also providing a source of income for myself and my family. To do this I am following the example of crowd-funding, where a project is supported by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people. So, my hope is that, in this way, i can keep the individual costs low (say approximately $10/month), while *hopefully* achieving an income by having a decent sized community of learners. Felting courses can be super expensive - they were most certainly out of range for me when I was new to felting - so I am delighted to offer something that is affordable, easy to access and generously filled with information.
How does this sound to you? I would love to know! I’ve been thinking and dreaming about it for a while now, so it feels good and slightly scary to put it into words. If all goes well I will have this ready to go by January 2026. I will be offering a lower monthly price to any of you wonderful folks who decide to take a chance and join me on this new endeavour… while the library of tutorials will be in its infancy, I do think there are perks to being the first ones to the party :D Undivided attention of the host and first pickings of the snacks for starters - lol! But also being a part of a core group that will help nudge this learning community in the right direction. If you decide to join me, you will be most welcome!
Ok I think I may have overdone my quota for words, so if you managed to get this far, I thank you! May you have a magical holiday season, filled with light, connection, love, and coziness… and an extra little wish that you exit the holidays with your energy reserves intact :D
Peace to you and to all the world,
Rena